Kingdom of the Magician
by Zephyrim
Summary: Sequel to Terror of the Magician. Arthur and Merlin must find and recruit both warriors and sorcerers to combat Morgause and protect Camelot but neither Morgause nor Camelot will make it easy. Now pursued by the ruthless knights who were called the most lethal during the Purge, Arthur has to fight a war on two fronts. It's a good thing Merlin is there, right?
1. Separation

Kingdom of the Magician

1: Separation

Merlin forced himself to press forward through the trees. The fear he felt did nothing to slow his heart—actually, it was only aggravating the shallow but jagged wound in his side.

"So stupid…" he panted. He hadn't really noticed but the blood loss was making him spout out complete nonsense for the past hour. He paused and sagged against a tree. His horse had been killed in the attack.

The memories were still fresh in his mind, they made him jumpy and Merlin thought that one of the arrows that had got past his shield may have been poisoned. It seemed like something Sir Logan would do…sadistic bastard.

He and Arthur had been travelling, going to various towns on the borders between Camelot, Cenred's lands and Mercia. They were searching for magicians and warriors to protect Camelot when Morgause and Cenred would inevitably strike at Camelot. They'd just left one small and nameless town of about forty people and had made it to the tree line before being ambushed by Sir Leon and several knights from Camelot. Not just any knights, either. Aside from Leon who was too young, the rest of the group had been the older generation of knights who had led the massacres in the Great Purge. Some of those men were more evil at heart than any three sorcerers Merlin had encountered…and he'd traded death-bringing spells with Edwin, Nimueh and the psychotic Morgause. Of course, Uther turned a blind eye to them simply because they had no magic. They couldn't be evil if they were knights in Uther's eyes.

Sir Logan was the worst. Merlin had only seen him twice in Camelot; he'd retired a few years before Merlin came to work for Arthur and had settled in a small castle a three day ride from Camelot. However, each time he had seen Sir Logan, dread had frozen over Merlin's thoughts. He'd had nightmares for days and he never slept while the older knight was within two leagues of Camelot's walls. It was like the man could instinctively feel the presence of a sorcerer. For Merlin who practically radiated magic like the sun gave off light it was a wonder the man didn't try to kill him. In the Purge, Logan had discovered that one way to keep a sorcerer from being able to use magic was to somehow introduce a powerful hallucinogenic drug to their bodies. Such drugs prevented the infected person from speaking spells or even maintaining coherent thought. It made people who relied on magic and therefore the steady mind needed to use magic easier to kill.

This was what was happening to Merlin now.

As he stumbled blindly through the forest, Merlin could not see properly or hear anything that may have been real. Any thoughts of Arthur's fate had been drowned out by the drug-induced hysteria. It was hard to keep track of Arthur in that fight. Merlin had chosen to use lightning spells to turn the knights' metal armor against them. He hadn't killed any of them but he had stunned Sir Leon and Sir Ignatius before a cross bow bolt from Sir Logan had grazed his side just under the rib cage. The instant pain prevented him from finishing the wording on a particular spell. He couldn't find the words; he couldn't focus on any coherent magic.

The only thing that had saved him was that he needed neither.

Merlin had forced his magic into the pain, causing the forest to tear itself apart in a shower of wood chips and falling timber. It was a rather large oak tree that had cut him off from Arthur who was facing off against two other 'Purge-Knights' as Merlin had often referred to them as. Sir Logan had been forced to Arthur's side of the tree before it went down. That left Merlin with two other conscious knights. The saw dust in their eyes had allowed Merlin the few seconds he needed to send them flying into trees that hadn't been disintegrated.

After that, he ran. If he had not been suffering the effects of Logan's anti-sorcerer drug, he may have been able to help Arthur but at the moment, he didn't even know who Arthur was. He didn't know who he was.

A twig snapped to his right. Merlin looked. There were three men, not knights just common folk running towards him waving their arms. Merlin bolted in the other direction using stamina that wasn't there to run. He heard the men shouting but he couldn't understand the words. It just sounded like loud whooping noises to him. Still he ran until he reached a clearing. There was a camp here full of people like those other three. They started calling to him. The noise hurt his ears. He covered them and cried out as the wound started bleeding again. He tried to back away into the forest but the people had surrounded him. Running was no longer an option.

He had to fight.

Merlin loosed what was left of his magic…which was rather a lot. Still, he couldn't do much more than push them slightly back—even primal instinct had to give way to blood loss.

Someone else shouted and everyone backed away and gave Merlin a lot of space. They didn't break the circle, however so he was still trapped. A woman approached him; she had long dark hair and fierce green eyes. Merlin thought that he should recognize her but he couldn't focus enough to make the association. She spoke to him in calm soothing tones and took one step at a time towards him, hand out-stretched. When she was close enough, Merlin raised his hands and lightly brushed her fingers. The moment he did, the woman's eyes flashed gold and Merlin felt himself fall into the darkness that had been creeping around the edges of his vision.

* * *

Damn, his head hurt. Waking up was the cruelest torture that could have happened to Merlin at that moment. When he opened his eyes, it was nightfall and he was in a green tent. Merlin tried to remember what had happened after he'd shocked those knights.

Those knights…

_Arthur! _

Merlin bolted straight up and off the mat, hitting the tent pole and using it as for stability. He'd taught Arthur how the druids communicate through their thoughts. He searched for his mind but found only the calm minds of druids. No knights. Merlin relaxed at their presence. A few issued wordless greetings to him.

The entrance to the tent opened and a face Merlin had not seen in just over two years appeared.

"Morgana," he smiled.

"Merlin," Morgana walked over to him and hugged him while being careful of Merlin's healed but tender cross-bow wound. "What happened to you? Where's Arthur?"

Merlin tried to remember. He sat back down on his mat and Morgana joined him. "We were attacked," he began as the memories started to trickle back. "It was Sir Logan and his men…from the Purge," he shivered, Morgana did too. She didn't like those knights either.

"They have Arthur!"

The memories of him running through the forest all flooded back, the tree, the forest, the pain, Sir Logan and his men—the flow of memories made Merlin dizzy. Morgana steadied him and forced him to lie back down.

"We'll search for Arthur later; remember, Uther doesn't want him dead. It would be far worse if you had been captured instead. We'll talk about him more when you've recovered. I'll get you some food. You should be dead, after all," Morgana stood up and left for a moment. Merlin realized that his shirt and boots were gone and that his wound was tightly wrapped up. He gave it an experimental poke. It was definitely healed but touching it sent a shooting pain up his ribs. Morgana came back in and sat down with a bowl of soup. It smelled wonderful; Merlin sat up and started eating it slowly.

"That poison isn't completely out of your body yet but it's a good thing we found you when we did. The druids here are familiar with it and you've only now confirmed that it was Sir Logan. I can't believe that Uther brought him out of retirement," Morgana clenched her fists.

"Where are Gwen, Gaius and my mother?" Merlin asked. He didn't want to talk about Logan right now.

"Hunith was able to return to Ealdor last year; the patrols don't go there anymore. Gaius is gathering herbs with a few of the children; he should be back in a few hours. He's doing wonderfully by they way. When we traveled as just the six of us, he looked so withered but the amount of herbs that the druids eat in their food has restored him to a better level of health than he ever had at Camelot," Morgana laughed.

"And Gwen?" Merlin prodded.

"She…felt that she didn't belong here. She stayed a while after Arthur left but about a year ago she decided that it was time she stopped being useless and set out to find her estranged brother Elyan and to track Lancelot," Morgana chewed her lip, obviously she wasn't too happy with this.

"And what of you?" Merlin took her hand.

"I've been learning. Kadish, the leader of this band of druids, is a patient teacher. Healing is actually coming easier to me than most of the others who have studied their whole lives," Morgana rolled up her sleeves showing several bracelets and a dark green knotted tattoo that covered the back of her right hand and spread to her wrist and forearm. It was the mark of a full fledged practitioner in the arts of healing. When she turned her hand to be palm up, Merlin saw the druidic rune for fire imprinted on the palm of her hand.

"You have been busy," Merlin remarked and traced the markings. He silently noted to himself that the bracelet Morgause had given her was absent from the five bands that represented various druidic rites of passage and one other healing bracelet made from a leather band with crystals stitched into it.

She twisted it for him to see. "I didn't feel right using the one Morgause gave me so I threw it into the crater by Ealdor and made this one to help with the nightmares."

"I see," Merlin let her hand go and returned to his meal. "How long was I asleep?"

"A good two days. Gaius and I were watching you but he has a pile of students learning to be physicians so he's teaching them," Morgana pulled her sleeves back. She was wearing a tunic and pants that were the colors of the forest and her cloak was a deep, leafy green. Merlin caught a whiff of incense, herbs and pine forest. It was nice.

"We have to find Arthur," Merlin tried to stand but Morgana pulled him back down.

"You need to recover. You could quite possibly be the only person to survive an encounter with Logan and his infamous gang of knights…as if they deserve to be called that," Morgana stood up. "I'll see if Gaius is back with the children. Do _not _go anywhere, you here me?"

Merlin nodded. Morgana left the tent and Merlin lay back down, still tired. Despite Morgana's instructions, his thoughts still wandered to what had happened to Arthur back in that clearing.

* * *

**Chapter 1 done! So yeah, I'm back for now, I know it took a while to end the first one but really the last two chapters could've been the same one. Damn naming pattern. I will never do that again.**


	2. Clarity

2: Clarity

Arthur sat gagged and bound to a tree as the knights who had captured him were once again set camp. In two days, they'd moved closer and closer to Camelot. To Uther. To the end of Arthur's freedom and, more than likely, his life. There was no way to predict what Uther would do now after two and half years since Arthur left Camelot. Sir Logan and his men might be escorting him to the pyre for all Arthur knew.

That wasn't all Arthur was concerned about. Merlin had been missing for the past two days. Logan told Arthur that there was no way he'd survive a wound like that. Arthur was not about to believe that. The man never seemed able to die. In the past two years since leaving Morgana and the others at Ealdor, Merlin had been stabbed, shot, shot at and had to do god-like feats of magic—one of which had used enough power to stop his heart for almost three minutes. Yet despite everything, Merlin would rise again. The man should've been named after a phoenix. He was a bit too indestructible compared to his name-sake. Even Logan seemed unsure.

The older knights left camp to gather fire wood and to search the area for anything that should not be there…namely Merlin. While Sir Logan maintained an air of arrogance while around Arthur, his eyes would dart to inspect the surrounding forest for intruders. In all their years of hunting sorcerers, Arthur doubted they'd encountered a sorcerer quite like Merlin. Arthur had overheard Logan telling Ignatius that his infamous poison didn't stop Merlin from destroying the surrounding forest.

Arthur stared at Sir Leon who was deliberately avoiding eye contact with him. He obviously was struggling still like he had been in Ealdor when he'd let them escape. It didn't look like he'd reached any real solution to the conundrum of Arthur who was his friend and Arthur who was an evil sorcerer. After a minute, Leon dared to look at his Prince. Their eyes met.

"I can't let you go. Not again," he whispered to him.

Arthur blinked. Merlin had taught him how to speak with his mind but Arthur seriously doubted that anyone without magic would be able to hear…and even if Leon did, Arthur figured it would probably sway Leon's opinion against him because of how much more intimate communicating with thoughts could be. So sitting still and blinking it was. Could he use magic at the moment? Merlin said it was possible to speak spell in his mind but it needed a greater level of focus that Arthur was capable of so far. The first few attempts had been…interesting. Now that the witch's magic had long since become his own, he was no longer capable of the sporadic bursts of wordless magic that Merlin was able to do.

So he'd have to put up with this for now.

Leon looked away again and angrily paced the camp in frustration, kicking over his own pack.

"You told me that a knight does what is right in his heart, but I don't know what is right anymore," Leon admitted. Arthur blinked again. Leon looked for any trace of the knights in the trees; they seemed to have moved out of sight.

"The king himself recognized that there men were dangerous to remain knights after the Purge and now he allows Lord Agravaine to send them after you?" Leon wrung his hands in frustration.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at him. Agravaine?

Leon answered the unspoken question. "Your father is…unwell. These past few years have been hard on him with his son and his ward both having magic. He couldn't take it. So the Lords presented a motion for Lord Agravaine to reign as Regent…and as heir to the throne."

Arthur nodded. Agravaine was a good man, he'd do Camelot proud. It still stung that he wasn't the heir but in the two and a half odd years of living in the wilderness, Arthur had learned to accept it. There was no way a sorcerer could rule Camelot. Not right now anyway. Leon started pacing again and it was then that Arthur noticed the way he carried himself had changed. His posture betrayed his uncertainty. He no longer stood straight like a knight should. He looked paler, weaker. Was it travelling with these knights that made him this way?

Leon noticed the look in Arthur's eyes. "I don't need your pity."

Arthur shook his head. He wasn't pitying Leon, he was just sad and tired of how this world worked. Magic might not be illegal in other kingdoms but after the Purge, no magician ever showed their powers openly even in the farthest of lands. It was then Arthur realized just how much sway Camelot held over the other lands. Part of him was proud and part of him added it to the list of things he would endeavor to change given the chance. If he could just get free.

Arthur's fingers explored the knot for the hundredth time, trying to loosen it. He tried to picture what it would look like as he traced it. It was no good; the knot-tying techniques used by the knights were meant to be cut away, not untied. The gag, then. Arthur tried dislodging it with his tongue but it was tied too tight to budge.

_Torrwch y__rhaffau!* _

Nothing happened. Arthur wasn't surprised. He had to get to a level of clarity that Merlin said should feel something like time slowing down. Of course, when Merlin got to that point, time _actually_ slowed down. Arthur didn't have such power. There were times in the battle field when he'd get moments of absolute clarity. When blood was pounding in his ears, and swords clanged and he had a notion that he might die...that kind of clarity, Arthur could remember. But would it be enough?

Arthur kept his eyes focused on Leon and then tried to remember every battle, the adrenaline of trying to survive, the eerie silence that seemed to hang over a noisy batttle ground. Then Arthur thought about what was going to happen to him if he made it back to Camelot. He was going to die.

_Torrwch y rhaffau!_

The rope snapped, Leon gave no indication he noticed. He soon went back to organizing camp and deliberately not looking at Arthur. Arthur was about to get up and run, but Sir Logan picked that moment to come back to camp along with Sir Ignatius, Sir Emerick, Sir Hallen and two other younger knights who Arthur didn't know. They probably got recruited after Arthur had left.

The knights were all talking to each other the way Arthur used to with his own knights after a hunt. Part of him missed that kind of banter but usually the knights banter after successfully catching something was not about him being caught.

"Check his bonds, boy," Ignatius called to Leon who grudgingly obeyed the senior knight without complaint like any soldier. Arthur started to panic but when Leon looked at the cut rope and then back at Arthur who was obviously still there he only gave a look of disbelief. Arthur shrugged.

"His bonds are fine," Leon called. "Let's call it a night."

"Fine, Talbon, take the first watch," Logan ordered and the knights go to sleep. Leon's bedroll is closest to Arthur's tree. One of the younger knights starts staring at Arthur intently to see if he even moved. Arthur stared back just as intently and the younger knight looked away after a minute, suddenly nervous.

Arthur waited for the young knight to fall asleep on watch. Talbon obviously had not been trained by Arthur and therefore was not disciplined enough to keep from nodding off. It was then that Arthur silently stood up and removed the gag. Leon rolled over and stared right at him. They stared silently at each other.

A silent communication passed between them

_They'll kill you._

_I don't care. Go. _

Arthur nodded to his knight and then retrieved his sword, Merlin's staff and the bag of spell books that Merlin had dropped during the fight. Unfortunately, the bag dislodged an iron cooking pot which clanged against a rock and woke the whole camp.

"Get him!" Logan ordered.

"Syfrdanu!"** Arthur pointed the staff and Sir Ignatius went down. Arthur repeated the process on Talbon and the other young knight before drawing his sword and crossing blades with Sir Emerick and Sir Logan. Arthur practically danced around the older knights knocking Emerick into a tree and having him knock himself out.

"Leon, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Logan barked.

Arthur stole a glance at Sir Leon who was fighting Sir Hallen nearby. He quickly won, killing him with a blow to the skull.

"No!" Logan kicked Arthur back and went after Leon. Arthur stood up just in time to see Logan knock Leon down with a savage punch. "You'll pay dearly for this, traitor," Logan vowed and turned his back to Arthur. Logan leveled his famous cross bow. "Now, you have a choice, you can try and save this man and get him shot or you can run and get yourself shot. What will it be?"

Arthur never got the chance to choose for a herd of wild horses came thundering through the camp, startling the knights horses into running. Arthur grabbed hold of one charger and let it follow the rest of the herd far away from Logan.

* * *

*Cut the ropes.

**Stun!

I apologize to anyone from Wales for using Google Translate to create magic spells. I know the show actually uses Old English but there isn't a button for that. If anyone has a decent Old English translating website that they like to use for their own stories, now would be the time to share it.

Oh, an about this new image manager thing…I'm probably not going to use it. Now if someone were to design an awesome picture for both Terror of the Magician and Kingdom of the Magician I would most definitely use that.


	3. Search

3: Search

Merlin woke up the next morning feeling much better. Morgana removed his bandages and used another healing spell to make his skin less tender.

"Where's Gaius?"

"You fell asleep while I was trying to get him away from his students to visit you. That was yesterday," Morgana stuck her head out the tent and Gaius, looking terrific for a man of his age walked in, smiling.

"Hello, Merlin," he greeted and Merlin stood up to hug him.

"Gaius, how are you? How have you been?" Merlin couldn't believe that Gaius could look this good. He had more hair, stood straighter, and didn't look like his limbs were paining him. His skin sat tighter on his face and hands. All in all, he looked like he was ten years younger.

"I've been great, Merlin. You on the other hand are a bit worse for wear," Gaius' eyes turned sad for a moment.

Merlin grabbed a shirt from the pile of clothing next to his mat and put it on to cover himself. The past two years of running from everyone who was a knight had taken a toll on both Merlin's and Arthur's skin. Merlin was easily winning the scar contest though, mostly because he insisted on protecting Arthur with everything he had—even his own body.

"I'll be fine, Arthur is really getting good at patching me up," Merlin smiled as usual. "I need to find him."

"I know. I just wish you'd take better care of yourself," Gaius took Merlin's left arm and rolled up the sleeve to show a long jagged scar that existed on both sides of his arm. "Can you even use this arm properly?"

"Yes, I can," Merlin pulled his arm back and rolled the sleeve back over it. He'd rather not think about that scar right now. "And now I need to find Arthur."

Morgana and Gaius left him to finish getting dressed. Merlin liked his new druid clothes. His old red shirt was kind of a target in the woods and had been shot at and stabbed repeatedly. Arthur had finally been forced to put it out of its misery and bartered for a new brown one but it hadn't been the same. Merlin's new shirt was the same leafy green as Morgana's and far less noticeable than the red. The druids had also provided new boots to replace the old ones (the left one had a hole in it large enough for Merlin to put his whole foot in) and a cloak to keep the ever present summer rain off of him. When he emerged from the tent, Morgana was saddling two horses.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked.

"I'm going with you," she replied, slightly offended.

"What about these people?" Merlin asked.

"They lived safely for many years before I came. I'm not that important," Morgana shook her head.

"I don't want to force you to leave if this is important to you," Merlin told her.

"You and Arthur are more important," she said and Merlin knew that the discussion was over.

"If you're going up against Logan and his knights, you're going to need Morgana. Her training these past two years is as good as your natural talents are now if not better," Gaius told him.

"What about you?" Merlin asked.

"I'm too old to be trekking across the five kingdoms, at least at the pace you'll be going. I'll only slow you down. No, I'll be staying here with the druids and moving along with them," Gaius hugged both Merlin and Morgana. "Just remember how proud I am of you both."

Merlin smiled and then mounted his horse. Morgana was held back by Gaius for one more minute as Merlin started off towards the direction he came from. When Morgana caught up to him, he looked at her placidly.

"He told you to keep me from endangering myself for Arthur's sake, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did," Morgana replied after a moment of hesitation.

Merlin sighed. "It's my destiny to protect Arthur."

"It's not your destiny to get yourself in this state. How bad is Arthur compared to you? He fights with a sword primarily; you have that staff of yours. That isn't exactly meant for combat close enough to do _that _to your arm," Morgana pointed and Merlin self-consciously hid his arm under his cloak.

"I had hoped you'd never have to see that," Merlin said.

"What happened?"

"I…learned that destiny is more than just a fate," Merlin replied.

"What is that supposed to mean?" demanded Morgana.

Merlin didn't answer. He'd already gotten too close to the memories. His scar twitched and he clenched his fist.

He didn't need to think about this right now.

* * *

After hours of not answering her questions, Morgana had stopped asking. Merlin was glad for this and didn't dare break the quiet. She hadn't given up; she was just waiting for him to let his guard down.

Druids didn't carry swords because of their magic but Merlin for all his power still felt very exposed without Arthur and his blade by his side—no offense to Morgana. It occurred to Merlin that he was rather dependant on Arthur just as Arthur was on him after two years of traveling together. Traveling with anyone else just felt…odd.

"You know," Morgana said, causing Merlin to jump at the noise. "I think the fact that you won't tell me how you nearly got your arm cut off is a sign of fear. Whoever or whatever did that to you is so frightening to you that you can't tell me because you're afraid of having to remember it. It's the only explanation. The question then is not simply 'what happened' so much as what scares someone as strong as you enough to not even want to even broach the subject?"

Merlin chewed his lip and bit down the answer that he wanted to say. He needed to change the conversation and quickly.

Then he had an idea. An idea so stupid, Morgana would forget that Merlin even had a left arm.

"Twenty leagues from Camelot is a lake. I left something there a few months after I came to Camelot," he snapped.

"What?"

"The sword that killed the Black Knight."

"The one Uther used?"

"It was meant for Arthur. It's a sword burnished in a dragon's flame. I had Kilgharrah create it for Arthur's duel but when Uther used it…Kilgharrah was furious and demanded that I hide the sword somewhere where no one could ever use it."

"So you hid it near a lake?"

"No, I threw it in the lake. Do you remember when I told you all about the Tir Mawrs?"

"Of course I do; you're saying you hid the sword in the lake where the gate to the Sidhe's world is?"

"Yes. The magic of the lake keeps the sword sealed for when it will be needed," Merlin replied, glad that she was accepting his answers.

"And you want us to go and get it?"

"We'd stand a better chance with it," he argued.

"You said the lake was twenty leagues from _Camelot. _I think we'll be better off leaving it there!"

"It's the sword that Arthur needs, the sword that could save his life where I might fail!"

"And that's the point, isn't it? This is just the kind of thing Gaius was talking about. You want to make a suicidal attempt at the heart of Camelot's lands for a sword that you've been just fine without until now," Morgana raged.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm covered in more scars than skin and so is Arthur, by the way. We've been riding up and down a region between two kingdoms that not only want to kill each other but both of them are actively trying to find us for two years. There have been too many close calls, too many instances of seizing victory by the skin of our teeth which is pretty amazing considering teeth don't have skin," Merlin shouted.

A group of bandits ambushed them, Merlin turned to them and let his anger and magic flow into the words "Shut up, we're trying to have a discussion here!" which sent them all flying into trees, quite dead.

"And a sword is supposed to change this?"

"Have you not been listening? Look, Morgana, I'm going to get the sword. Yes, it's dangerous, yes Gaius would not approve but I'd stand a much better chance if you were with me. Agreed?"

Morgana looked enraged for another few seconds and then calmed down. "Fine."

* * *

The two rode to the closest town available to them, a small town called Abbaseth which was just over Camelot's side of the border. Merlin noted the presence of a well-built man with shiny black hair (which looked about as good as Morgana's) in the town's stocks.

They tied their horses and entered the tavern…only to duck from a stray pint of mead that had been thrown in their general direction. Really, the large broken window should've been a clue.

"Did I mention this was a bad idea?" Morgana quipped.

"What this? No, this is just fun," Merlin looked at the rabble of brawlers and spotted a familiar head of black curls going toe-to-toe with a man twice his size…with his fists.

"See? Lancelot's here," Merlin nodded to Morgana (who then retreated back outside) and dove into the fray, using magic to augment his weaker punches. He made his way over to Lancelot, casually grabbing a bottle of…something. He ran past several men attempting to break the arm of a third man and smashed the bottle on the head of the man Lancelot was fighting.

He should've known that it wouldn't work.

"Run," Lancelot shouted over being choked with one hand.

Merlin whispered something and then gave the larger man a good solid tap with his finger—which sent him back into the bar, dropping Lancelot in the process.

"That was amazing!" Lancelot said after picking himself up off the floor.

"Oh you know me," Merlin said, lowering his hood.

"Merlin! What the hell are you doing here?" Lancelot shouted over the chaos and reached around his friend to punch a man who'd gotten too close.

"It's a long story and we don't have time for it…our friend is getting up," Merlin pointed. "What did you do to upset him, anyway?"

The two started backing away from the bigger man. "It's a long story. Basically, yesterday my friend outside in the stocks ran up a drinking tab that he couldn't pay for. That man there is called Deegan; he runs this tavern and if you can beat him in a bet, your drinks are on him. So I bet that I could beat him in a fist fight which we said would take place today. If I won, my friend's tab would vanish; if I lost…well, I'm trying my best not to think about it. Unfortunately, it seems that he's never lost a bet in about ten years and he scooped me right up off the ground and threw me through the window into his own bar, where I then tipped over two tables, spilling mead everywhere and made everyone really angry which is how this kind of escalated," Lancelot explained as the two backed into a wall.

"I see," Merlin replied. The past few years had obviously done Lancelot good—bar fights notwithstanding. "Morgana and I are trying to find a rather special sword; would you like to come with us?"

"What are you doing traveling with _Lady _Morgana?" Lancelot asked.

"It's complicated," admitted Merlin "but basically we're on the run."

"Merlin, what have you done?"

"Not like that! No! What—why would you…never mind."

Lancelot ran off in one direction and Merlin to the other, circling behind the bigger man.

"Do you and your friend have horses?"

"We did but the village appropriated them for the drinking tab," Lancelot explained.

"And it still wasn't enough? How much does that man drink?"

"Well we have been here for a couple of days."

"Still…"

"I know, I know; but he's a good man. A bit unorthodox but almost as good with a sword as I am," Lancelot defended.

"That's high praise coming from you," Merlin noted.

"We've been in a few battles together. He has great skill," Lancelot added.

"Fine, I'll break him out," Merlin relented.

"Thanks, Merlin, you're a good friend," Lancelot patted his shoulder and the two split up again only to meet at the door. "Wait."

"What?" Merlin demanded.

"I still have a fist fight to win," Lancelot stated.

"Of course you do," Merlin replied patting his arm "I'll be outside then."

Merlin ran outside and was about to head for the stocks when Morgana grabbed him and pulled him around the side of the building.

"What is it?" Merlin asked and Morgana pointed at the guards that were coming into the town to quell the bar fight.

"We have to get Lancelot…and his friend over in the stocks," Merlin whispered to her.

"Seriously?" she said. Merlin nodded. "Fine."

Merlin was about to sneak into the bar when Deegan came flying back out of it…through a wall.

Lancelot came out the hole in the wall and glared at Merlin. "You did that thing that you did, didn't you?" he said holding up his arm.

"We're kind of in a hurry," Merlin evaded and the two men went to where Morgana was freeing Lancelot's friend.

"Where are those horses you mentioned?" Merlin asked Lancelot.

"I'll get them," he answered.

"Morgana, get this one on my horse," Merlin pointed to the other man and then ran after Lancelot putting his hood back up.

Lancelot had both horses ready to go in minutes. Merlin vaulted up on one and soon the four riders were bolting out of town while everyone else was caught up in the chaos.

"So, Merlin; what the hell is going on?" Lancelot casually asked.

"It'll take a bit of time to explain," Merlin dodged.

"I think we have enough time," the other man interjected.

"Sorry, who are you again?" Morgana asked.

"Apologies, my lady. I'm Gwaine."

* * *

**Cliffhanger, ha ha!**


	4. Useful

4: Useful

Arthur's horse had wanted to continue with the rest of the herd but Arthur forced it onto a road and followed that road to a rather large and thriving trading town. Before entering the town, Arthur removed the horse's Camelot livery so that the horse wouldn't be recognized.

This town was on Camelot's side of the border. A sign on the wall said "Adaras."

Arthur kept his hood up and cautiously led his horse through the streets. He and Merlin never really had any money so staying in the inn was never an option. It was better to just pass through the town and find a suitable campsite. Still, this town was in Camelot and pictures of him and his friends on all the wanted boards. That and the fact that Arthur vaguely remembered visiting this town a number of years ago didn't help his mood. All it would take is one person to recognize him and that would be it. He averted his gaze from the guards when they passed. They all seemed to be on edge. Surely Logan couldn't have gotten here first. It didn't help that Arthur was carrying a badly concealed magical staff, and a bag of spell books.

Arthur felt exhausted. He'd run his horse through the night to get to this town and both of them were tired. He hadn't dared to sleep in the saddle. This town was bigger than he'd thought and the streets were winding in on themselves. Arthur figured that this was part of the city's defenses; if invaders couldn't find where they were going they couldn't exactly take over without heavy losses.

It also meant that getting out of this labyrinth was going to take time and energy that Arthur just didn't have right now. Arthur led his horse past a black smith's house where a man was busy toiling away at an unfinished sword and was painfully reminded of Guinevere…and of what his family had done to hers. It was amazing that Gwen had forgiven him at all for not stopping something Arthur knew to be wrong.

As if to torment him, a woman with long curly brown hair came out of the house with lunch. She looked a lot like Gwen. Arthur couldn't resist looking until he got a good look at her face.

His heart wrenched. It was her and she was giving lunch to a man he didn't know. Arthur supposed that if she was happy he could live with it but part of him knew that was a lie. She looked up and he looked away before she could see his face and continued to head towards what he thought was the edge of the town. He saw Gwen's face on one of the wanted boards.

He'd lead Logan straight to her.

Arthur considered staying in the town until Logan got there and then leading them away in another chase—which would probably get him killed but what did it matter? He'd be dead if he went back to Camelot anyway. He only had to keep Gwen and her husband safe.

Someone grabbed his arm, Arthur spun around ready to fight and saw that she had followed him.

"Arthur?" she asked.

"Gwen," he replied.

She grabbed him in the tightest hug she was capable of. "I've missed you so much! You didn't recognize me when you passed by my house?"

"I didn't want to intrude," Arthur replied.

"What do you mean? Elyan wouldn't mind," Gwen started to lead him back to the black smith shop but Arthur pulled back. Gwen looked confused and then a look of realization dawned on her. "Arthur, Elyan is my brother, not my husband."

Arthur relaxed at that; he found himself letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"You look awful; what's happened to you, where's Merlin?" she asked. Arthur was about to answer when he had to rebalance himself against his horse.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked.

"Properly? Or napping?"

"Either."

"I had a nap about…a day ago," he lied.

"Arthur."

"Two days, no sleep," he admitted.

"Honestly…" Gwen led him back to house.

"Who's this, then?" the man, Elyan, demanded of Gwen.

"He's the one I told you about," Gwen answered and tied the horse up behind the house.

"So you're…"

"We'll talk inside," Gwen opened the door and Arthur was greeted by a similar smell to Gwen's house in Camelot. Gwen practically forced him to lie down. "Get some sleep and then tell us everything," she ordered.

Even if Arthur wanted to protest, he couldn't.

* * *

When he woke up, Gwen was humming as she stirred a pot of something on the stove. Arthur felt better but he was still tired. He sat up slowly. Gwen turned and saw him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better," he replied. She handed him a wet cloth and he scrubbed the travel dust off his face.

"You look a lot better," she poured out a bowl of soup and handed it to him. It was good.

"Why are you here? I thought you would be with the druids and Morgana," Arthur wondered.

"I left about a year ago. The druids are a kind people but harboring us was all they were willing to do. They refused to take any other actions to stop Morgause or to help you protect Camelot. You were right; they're not inclined towards you…or Morgana. She and Kadish got into a lengthy discussion about whether Uther's ward should be allowed to stay. It wasn't until she set fire to the tent that he agreed that she could never return to Camelot. Things were made a lot easier when Gaius said he was a physician and that we were Merlin's friends. Apparently, the druids respect Merlin as one of their own. They even have another name for him. Eventually, I had to leave. I couldn't just sit and do nothing while Gaius looked after the sick and Morgana learned more magic," Gwen shook her head. "What about you? What happened?" she asked.

"The wilderness is not very forgiving; Merlin and I have been on the run. We've been trying to find more people like us—sorcerers and knights who can co-exist—but we haven't had much luck. None at all, actually. We tried tracking Lancelot again but finding one man in all the five kingdoms unless he wants to be found is next to impossible. That and…" Arthur shuddered. He didn't want to think about that again.

"What? What is it?" Gwen asked.

"Do you remember our last day together in Ealdor how I explained about the pool?"

"Yes."

"The ghost also gave me a lesson in destiny; I didn't want to say anything because Merlin and Morgana were right there but…" Arthur gave a quick explanation about the two paths that sat before him and his two friends.

The look on Gwen's face turned to shock. "That's totally unfair!"

"That's why I'm trying to create a third option, one where both Merlin and Morgana are protectors. I won't let one of them die because of the other, but that isn't the worst part of it. Fate itself is swinging between destinies and it's affecting Merlin rather…strangely. It's almost like there's two of him inside his head. There's the Merlin we all know who's kind and makes bad jokes and then there's Emrys—destiny's puppet. When we first left, we'd encounter soldiers and Merlin would fight defensively but then, a year later, the moment a patrol spotted us, Merlin simply killed them without holding back. And then three months ago," Arthur stopped and stood up, trying to phrase it all in his head.

"Arthur, what happened?" Gwen prodded.

Arthur took a deep breath and looked at her with a pained expression. "He didn't stop with the soldiers. Part of him is the one that Fate says will destroy me. I bet Morgana is having similar episodes," he evaded again.

"Arthur," Gwen interrupted her tone very stern. "What. Happened?"

Arthur ignored her and lay back down on the bed, facing the wall. Some things should not be said.

* * *

It was Elyan who woke him next.

"Sir Logan has entered the city. He's ordered the entrances to be cordoned off. No one is allowed to leave. I have a way out; let's go," Elyan pulled him up off the bed. Gwen was already gone.

They left the house and ducked behind it heading towards the wall. Arthur went to saddle the stolen war horse but Elyan grabbed his arm.

"Leave the horse," he snapped and the two men ran to where Gwen was waiting with a few bags of provisions.

"Let's go," Gwen held out her hand to him and Elyan uncovered a hole in the wall behind some barrels.

"When did you find this?"

"I made it last year," Elyan explained as they shoved themselves through and started running into the forest.

"We always knew that it might come to this…you know, with me being a fugitive," Gwen added as they ran.

"I'm sorry," Arthur squeezed her hand.

"It's not your fault. I once told Merlin that you and Morgana are the only reasons I stayed in Camelot after my father's death. It's good to be doing something useful again," she said as they ran through the forest. Arthur heard the alarm bells of Adaras begin to ring as the guards found out about the whole in the wall.

"What about Elyan?" Arthur asked.

"I'm fine," Elyan snapped.

Three years ago, such impertinence would've landed Elyan in the stocks but Arthur didn't care anymore. He wasn't a prince anymore. Moreover, Arthur's father killed Elyan's and Gwen's father. Gwen was forgiving enough…but what about her brother?

* * *

**Sorry for the wait!**


	5. Friends

5: Friends

Merlin related the whole of the last three years to Lancelot and Gwaine. He explained who and what they were, what they were looking for, and what was at stake. At the end of the explanation, Lancelot immediately agreed to help them; not apprehensive at all about Merlin's magic or Morgana's. Seeing that Lancelot wasn't worried, Gwaine also agreed to help.

Thankfully, Morgana kept quiet to the other two about Merlin's scars. Merlin had omitted the part where the various battles he and Arthur had survived had gotten them both a bit carved up. It wasn't easy lying to Lancelot but Merlin hadn't even wanted Morgana to know in the first place. It was a good thing that he was well practiced at keeping secrets.

"So instead of finding Arthur who is somewhere back near the border, we're going for a magical sword that is within spitting distance of Camelot's walls?" Gwaine asked, skeptical.

"That was my reaction too," said Morgana.

"He's ready for it but I've never found a way to convince him to go get it," Merlin replied.

"That's because he's smarter than you," snapped Morgana.

"Is this going to be your reaction the entire time?" Merlin sighed. They were so much like siblings, Arthur and Morgana. They had the same reactions and the same thoughts. Arthur had pretty much said the same things that Morgana was giving now. The only difference was that Morgana was actually willing to try.

Most likely because she didn't know the whole truth.

* * *

The four continued riding for several days. Merlin eventually stopped talking to Morgana.

"Why are we taking such a roundabout way?" asked Lancelot.

"The four most notorious knights from the Great Purge are hunting us, they think we're still in the border region and while that is the fastest way to get to the lake, that's where they'd expect us to be," Merlin replied.

"Good point, but this is taking us closer to Camelot than we need to be," Morgana reminded him.

"I know, but I can deal with regular patrols better than Logan's men. You saw what happened to me last time," Merlin shuddered. Even now the memories were hazy. All Merlin really remembered with any certainty was the pain of the poison.

"Wait, I hear something," Gwaine whispered and everyone stopped their horses and listened.

Gwaine's sense of hearing must have been amazing because after a moment Merlin heard the galloping of horses nearby…and coming in their direction fast.

"Move!" Merlin kicked his horse into a gallop and the four moved deeper into the trees. It didn't help. Sir Ignatius and Sir Emerick had found them along with two other younger knights. Sir Leon, Sir Logan and Sir Hallen weren't there. Merlin threw Sir Ignatius through the forest and turned his attention to Sir Emerick. Lancelot and Gwaine faced off against the younger knights.

"Try not to hurt them; they're only following orders like any knight would. There's no excuse for Logan and his knights though," Merlin called.

"Will do," acknowledged Lancelot.

"Fine," Gwaine said and delivered a savage kick his opponent's stomach. "He'll be fine."

Morgana and Merlin had to avoid Sir Emerick. Merlin could feel that Emerick's sword was cursed though the knight seemed unaware of it. He communicated this much to Morgana. Even in his old age, the knight was dangerous. He could dodge or evade most magical attacks and his sword work didn't let Merlin or Morgana get close. It didn't help that neither carried weapons. He seemed to take Merlin seriously the most until he suddenly lashed out at an unprepared Morgana and carved a long jagged line up her leg.

"No!" Merlin shouted and even Emerick couldn't block that blast of magic. While he was stunned, Merlin ran to Morgana and put his hands on her leg. The gold in her eyes said that she was trying to heal it but the wound wasn't closing.

"It's the curse," Merlin realized. There was only one thing to do; Morgana was losing blood and fast. Lancelot and Gwaine surrounded them and waited for the other knights to get back up. Merlin took a deep breath and without saying any kind of spell that would tip Morgana off to what he was doing, he extracted the curse from her leg. It was like trying to grab fire. Merlin pulled it out, holding in the gasp of pain that he wanted to let out. Morgana healed her leg and looked up at Merlin, struggling to keep a straight face.

"_Still trying to protect the unprotectable, I see."_

Merlin froze at the voice in his head. It was his but colder and more vindictive. He forced himself to stand up, still keeping the curse contained in his arm. The one with the scar. Having pain in that wound again triggered memories. Memories triggered emotions and emotions triggered the Destroyer. Merlin had to get away and fast. If he was already hearing that voice, then any minute…

Merlin forced himself not to think about that and fired the curse back at Emerick along with a spell. The knight caught it in the chest and fell to the ground screaming.

_No! Why would I do that? _

"_Not you, me; and you know full well why." _

_Go to hell, Emrys!_

"_Already there, Merlin. Care to join me?" _

Merlin screamed in frustration. It didn't exactly do anything to change the look of astonishment on Morgana's face, the look of concern on Lancelot's and the look of fear on Gwaine's.

"Merlin, what is going on?" Morgana asked.

Merlin couldn't answer—actually and physically couldn't. He started walking past his friends, past the knight screaming in agony, past the other knight clutching his sword and shaking in fear. He had to get away; had to keep away from his friends. Had to.

It wouldn't be his choice in a minute.

Merlin started running. His speech was already gone, half of his magic no longer answered to him. His left arm started going numb. He kept running until one of his legs went over to the other side and stopped moving. Merlin pitched forward and down a leaf covered ravine.

As his awareness faded away, he thought only of how this time, Arthur wouldn't be there to bring him back and that no one else was capable of calming Emrys.

* * *

**Confused? Deal with it but don't worry, should explain what is going on...eventually.  
**

**Also, if you thought my updates were slow before, I'm attempting to write a story with a friend of mine—not this one, different one altogether. She is also very demanding and is far scarier than the lot of you…mostly because she knows where I live. **

**One more thing: I have a poll up on my page. I'm unsure of what to do about Merlin's love life in this story. So you lot get to pick.**


	6. Slave

6: Slave

Arthur and his two new companions couldn't have been luckier. They'd avoided the search that had come after them only to get picked up by a band of slavers, tied up and thrown in the back of a wagon. Really, this was exactly what Arthur needed right now. At least these idiots didn't know he had magic. Unfortunately, it was back to the bound and gagged scenario that Arthur was beginning to be far too familiar with. Could he free himself with a mental spell again? Sure, but was he willing to risk Gwen's safety? Definitely not.

_Where the hell is that idiot when I need him? _

The slavers had taken them to a hole-in-the-ground camp that really could've passed for a town…a town with pools of blood, all manner of questionable characters and…slave traders. Arthur shuddered and added this place to the number of things he'd have to fix later if he ever became king at all. That was list was getting to be too damn long.

Knowing that Gwen would trust him and not be put off by druidic telepathy, Arthur had tried to get through to her but she was either too focused on their predicament for him to get through or he was right and non-magic folk just couldn't hear mental messages. Elyan was about as receptive as a teaspoon. Talking in anyway shape or form was off the list.

Arthur had tried to use magic but stopped when he realized it wouldn't work. There were too many people to deal with while protecting Gwen. If the slavers had caught on that he was a sorcerer then they didn't show it. He wasn't given any special treatment or anything to suggest they knew about his abilities. This was about the only good thing that had happened today.

When the wagon stopped, the three were hauled off. Gwen was taken away much to the distress of Elyan who had to be knocked out before the slavers could move him. Arthur watched her go to the auction cells while he and Elyan were put in a different cell surrounded by warriors and facing an arena where they were thrust at random into combat. Aside from Arthur, Elyan and a few others, no one else seemed to be restrained. It was like the last time Gwen had been captured all over again—tournaments to the death, slaves who fought like soldiers and a terrible fate for the losers. Arthur watched man after man get cut down by a much larger man. He was built strong and had short cropped hair. His skill would've made him the equal of any of Camelot's knights…but there was absolutely no life in his eyes as he killed anyone who got too close. Arthur pitied the man as he watched him fight for hours before Elyan woke up and hours more before he was allowed back into his cell.

"What is that monster made of?" Elyan asked at the man left with just as much stamina as he had started with and allowed him self to be put back into a cell right across from Arthur's.

"I…don't know," admitted Arthur. "But imagine what could be accomplished if he were freed of this place."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Elyan. "We should be worrying about our freedom! I took my sister in because she had no where to go and we are family if nothing else but it's your fault that we had to leave. Camelot was just starting to forget about her; the only wanted posters left on the boards by the guard stations were yours, Morgana's and that Merlin fellow's. She was almost in the clear until you came!" Elyan was near shouting.

"Keep your voice down," snapped Arthur.

"Or what? What will you do? You're no prince, not anymore."

"Elyan, shut up," Arthur hissed.

"No, I won't," Elyan insisted but he did lower his voice. "I helped you because Gwen asked me to and I owe her a lot. The only thing I owe you is death, Arthur Pendragon. Your father killed mine—however I was estranged from him he was still family."

"Don't give me that," Arthur scoffed. "I didn't meet you until a few days ago; your father died five or six years ago now. If you really cared about Gwen or your father then you would've come to settle accounts long ago."

"You were untouchable then; challenging you would've gotten me killed by your crazy father as well. It would've accomplished nothing."

"You're wrong; I'm not my father-"

"That remains to be seen…"

"-I would've answered for my wrong doing!" Arthur whisper-shouted at him.

"Prove it," Elyan challenged.

"What do you want, Elyan?"

"Get me out of here; get Gwen out of here and then do the honorable thing and leave us be."

"You wouldn't last five seconds if I freed you. You need me; I don't need you. If you and Gwen hadn't been there then nothing would've stopped me from defeating all of those men."

"You mean you would've killed them all with your crazy earth-powers."

"Don't say things like that out loud!"

"If you're so powerful then get us out!" Elyan pointed at the metal bars. "Open the door."

"No, we need an opening."

"Like what? What sort of opening would a fortress like this packed to the brim with fighters have?"

Arthur thought for a moment. "When I was a kid, my father took me on an inspection of the farms that surround Camelot that sent their crops directly to the castle. One cow farmer had his herd in too small a space and something spooked one of them. That one started stampeding and the others followed suit but there was nowhere to stampede to and they all started killing each other."

"What does that have to with anything?"

"Oh come on, I don't have to be a farmer to know that one thing could set these guys off and start a brawl that could keep everyone occupied while we snuck out."

"Or get killed in the process," mocked Elyan.

"You're welcome to stay," Arthur offered. "I'll need help."

Elyan scoffed and sat down against the wall rubbing his head.

"I didn't mean you, you bloody coward," Arthur said and had to dodge the sudden fist Elyan threw after standing back up. Elyan grabbed his throat instead.

"Alright, I'll admit that I'm a poor example of a son and a brother but that is going too far."

"It's not going far enough," Arthur retorted after prying Elyan's weak grip off his throat. "You abandoned your family and traveled from town to town leaving whenever things got too tough for you. Gwen hasn't known where you were, what you were doing or even if you were alive until she found you. You're a coward, Elyan; I'm not going to sugar coat it for you any more. What help could I get from a weakling like you?" Arthur pushed Elyan into the opposite wall.

"Hey, break it up, you two!" a guard yelled at them and started moving over.

Elyan attacked Arthur, and the two started punching and kicking each other. The guards opened the door and reached for the two brawlers. Arthur pushed Elyan away and punched one guard clean out of the cell. The other guard was about to attack when Elyan drove his knees into the poor man's chest and drove the air out of his lungs. Elyan relieved the man of his sword and the two wordlessly left the cell. Arthur picked up the sword from the man he bested.

"Escape!" another guard called and soon fifty people showed up.

"When do they start killing each other?" Elyan demanded so that only Arthur would hear.

Arthur looked pointedly at the strongest looking man in the room. "Thank you for all your help."

"You helped them?"

"Traitor!"

"It's a lie, I swear!" the man defended. The others wouldn't listen and soon the man was defending against half the room.

Arthur looked at another man. "You were a bit late getting that key to us, we had to improvise."

The man's face paled as the people nearest him turned on him.

"In fact, I'd like to thank all the people in this room who agreed to help a total stranger for the amount of money I promised…which is about double I was going to pay that first guy."

Arthur pulled Elyan through the growing chaos, giving words of thanks or admiration to random people and having everyone turn on each other.

"How is this working?" Elyan asked.

"They're not that smart, that's all," Arthur replied before coming to the large man's cell. The man hadn't moved from the corner. "Kcolnu!" the door clicked open.

"Come on, we're getting out."

"Then go," the other man said.

"Come with us," Arthur asked.

"Why?"

"Because you're wasting away your life in here."

"And you'll free me out of pity?"

"Out of respect for your skill," Arthur insisted.

"What do you care?"

"I care about a lot of things; I care about a dear friend who's lost that I need to find, I love a woman I need to rescue and I fight for a kingdom that wants me dead. It's only natural to care about someone capable of doing so much good. Call me selfish if you want."

The man pondered this for a moment then stood up and ran at Arthur. Arthur and Elyan backed out of the way just in time for the man to hip-check a man into the fighting crowd before picking up two men and throwing them. After getting a sword from one of the fallen, the man turned to Arthur again.

"This woman you spoke of…is she close by?"

"The auction cells."

"I see. I suppose I could help you. Call it fair trade…Magician."

"That won't be a problem, will it?" Arthur asked.

"Not at all."

The three fought their way out of the arena and into the town. The alarm miraculously had not gone off yet. Arthur's luck might just be improving. They made it to the entrance of the auction cells before the bells went off.

"What's your name?" Elyan asked.

"Percival," the man replied right before he killed the two men guarding the entrance. Arthur rushed in before him.

"Gwen!" he shouted.

"Here!" she called back. He couldn't see her. There were ten cells and each had twenty plus people in it. Arthur was running out of time.

"KCOLNU!" Arthur shouted and felt his eyes burn as all the cells simultaneously opened. Everyone ran out in random directions but avoiding the magician who freed them. Gwen ran over to him.

"Arthur, how'd you get out?" she asked. Arthur wanted to reply but he suddenly felt very heavy. Someone steadied him; it felt like Percival, no one else had hands that big.

"Arthur? Arthur what's wrong?" Gwen asked. Percival threw Arthur over his shoulder…and that was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

The only thing Arthur dreamt of was a very familiar crazed laughter. It was a sound he'd hoped he'd never hear again but something told him he wouldn't be that lucky.

Arthur sat straight up, trying to escape the dream.

"Arthur, what happened?" Gwen demanded. Arthur ignored her and looked around. They were in a dark forest. No one had lit a fire and the sounds and smells of horses told him that their escape must've been interesting.

"I just overdid it a little. Where are we?" he looked around some more but he couldn't see anything.

"After you fainted, Percival got us to the stables and we stole enough supplies for a few days. Elyan found your staff but not the books," Gwen handed him the staff of Sidhe.

"Thank you," Arthur took the staff but didn't try to get up.

"Arthur, you saved our lives. I should thank you," Gwen took his hand in both of hers. Arthur found it peculiar how calm that made him. He wanted her to stay and if she was going to stay then she had to know everything.

"When we talked at your house…before we left…" he trailed off.

"You were about to say something about Merlin."

"Yeah. Merlin," Arthur took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. "I think something may have happened to him…something that happened before a short while ago. Remember when I said he started killing outright rather than fighting defensively?"

"You said it was like there was two of him."

"There is two of him. His destiny has changed and thanks to Morgause killing his father there's been a darkness in him these last three years. Three months ago, the difference in destiny took over his personality. There are literally two Merlins inside his head. There's Merlin, destiny's protector, the one who is supposed to protect me while I unite the land or something…and then there's Emrys. Emrys is his darkness, destiny's destroyer. He's the one who will kill me…partly because he'll destroy all of Camelot in the process. Emrys blames both Cenred and me for what happened to Ballinor. He intends to kill us both and reduce our kingdoms to a sea of blood. There's no reasoning with him at all…I tried," Arthur stopped. That memory was not pleasant. Merlin had the scar on his arm…and Arthur had…

"What do you mean 'you tried'?"

Arthur shook his head. "There isn't enough light to see it…but maybe…" Arthur pulled his shirt over his head and let Gwen touch his back. Where there should've been smooth skin, Gwen's hand encountered several patches of previously burned skin.

"Merlin did this to you?" Gwen gasped.

"_Emrys _did this to me…right before Merlin and I forced him back into the depths of Merlin's mind. Emrys has every bit of power that Merlin has so any seal Merlin tried could be countered…until I added my own magic to it. Now whenever Emrys threatens to surface, I feel it…and I'm pretty sure he's back," Arthur shuddered.

"What can we do?"

"Find him…and push him back down. We can't kill him without killing Merlin too. This is as good as we can get."

"This Merlin fellow sounds really dangerous," Elyan interrupted from the edge of the camp.

"You're still here?"

Elyan shifted in the darkness. "There's a lot I need to prove."

"I'm here out of a debt. I never thought I'd see the sky again…and now I can," Percival added. "So what can we do about this Emrys?"

"We can start by finding him," Arthur stood up and adjusted his shirt.

"You want to go near the person who wants you and this whole area dead?" Percival asked.

"I'm not asking anything of any of you," Arthur clarified.

"On the contrary, it sounds like fun," Percival said with a slight air of sarcasm.

* * *

**Hurray for late night inspiration! I switched from Welsh via google translate to simple backwards words for ease of magic weaving. I know part way through my last story I gave up on words and practically did everything semi-Last Air Bender style in terms of magic. **

**VOTE IN THE POLL. Also if an alert is like sugar and a favorite is like coffee then reviews are like rocket fuel and will encourage faster updates.  
**


	7. Darkness

7: Darkness

Merlin could only watch. Emrys just kept walking through the forest in a random direction. Every so often his awareness of Emrys' surroundings would fade so he lost track of where he was rather quickly.

Emrys encountered someone in the trees; he could tell because he could feel Emrys' bloodthirsty excitement. He was going to kill someone.

Merlin could not allow this.

Fighting with every ounce of his strength, Merlin fought to take control over even his hand.

"_What are you doing?" _Emrys asked, bored.

_I am not letting you kill anyone else._

"_But he's an open target, even look."_

Emrys showed Merlin an image of a very badly wounded Sir Leon.

_NO!_

Merlin's sudden response caught Emrys by surprise. It was all the time Leon needed to punch Emrys into unconsciousness.

Merlin woke up not two minutes later with a pounding headache. Sir Leon put his sword to his neck.

"What are you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Merlin rubbed his head.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I'm just…a bit complicated right now," Merlin sat up slowly, minding the sword. He then told Leon about Emrys, he had to get the knight to trust him somehow. Of course telling Leon about an insane, powerful and destiny driven alter ego didn't help his case much.

"And you're in control…now?"

"Yes. You punched Emrys, not me. He won't be up for hours."

Leon slowly lowered his sword but he didn't put it away. Merlin didn't blame him for that. In fact, he would've insisted that Leon keep the sword handy.

"Why are you here?"

"Uh, because you attacked Arthur, poisoned me, captured him and tried to kill us. I made it to the druids Morgana was traveling with and then the two of us traveled and met Lancelot and this fellow called Gwaine. Then you attacked us again…though you weren't there and then Emrys went crazy."

"That's…quite a story."

"Moving on; where are the rest of your sorcerer killing friends?" Merlin spat. Leon actually looked hurt for a minute.

"I killed Sir Hallen to save Arthur. The rest of the knights were bringing me to Camelot for a trial when Sir Emerick spotted you. They left me with Sir Logan and went to attack. I overpowered Sir Logan…but…" Leon indicated the wound on his side.

"So Emrys didn't do that to you?" Merlin asked.

"No."

Relief hit Merlin like a waterfall. "Thank goodness. _Pirt." _

Leon hit the ground. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a look at it."

"You could've asked."

"Would you really have agreed?"

Leon hesitated. "No."

"_Dnuow eht laes dna noitcefni eht naelc niap eht bmun_," Merlin chanted and Leon's injuries faded from his skin.

"That's better," took a deep breath.

"That's first aid; I have to repair the damage under the surface. _Niks eht htaenrednu elcsum eht hctitser."_

"Is magic evil?" Leon asked point blank. Merlin had to think about how to answer.

"I don't think so. Emrys and I share the same magic except he uses it for evil and I…protect Arthur. Sometimes a bit of evil gets mixed up in there. I don't like killing, Leon but when Arthur is in danger…"

"You protect him like any other knight would," Leon finished.

"He did actually knight me, you know."

"Really," Leon sat up. "When was that?"

"Before we left Camelot. When everything was almost normal. I was teaching Morgana and Arthur to control their magic so that they wouldn't slip up in front of Uther," Merlin reminisced. "Hard to believe that was almost three years ago."

"So much has changed," agreed Leon. An awkward silence hung over them for a minute. "I've decided."

"What?"

"Magic isn't evil. All those people who tried to attack Camelot…they were just trying to avenge what they had lost…right?"

"They could've found a better way but yes," Merlin replied.

"I want to find Arthur. I swore to fight for my king to the death but…not like this. Not any more. Besides, Uther hasn't been the real king for almost two years," Leon stood up and pulled Merlin to his feet. "So let's go find the real one."

* * *

Leon and Merlin supported each other through the forest. Merlin was exhausted and Leon's wound was still tender. They were actually looking for Morgana because Leon had insisted despite Merlin's protests on finding her first.

"I have no idea how the others are going to react. I threw a curse back at a knight and left him screaming in the middle of the battlefield and didn't explain why," Merlin protested.

"You can explain now," Leon dismissed and continued hauling the tired magician through the trees.

Merlin closed his eyes and listened to the forest. Up ahead he could sense Morgana's magic.

"That way," he pointed.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Leon looked around. "There's a sign over there."

The two walked over to it. It was an arrow pointing towards a town called Adaras.

"I remember we passed through there chasing after Arthur after I killed Sir Hallen. Logan alerted the town guards but he'd got away by the time we received news that he was there," Leon recounted.

"That's…good," Merlin took a deep breath.

"How's your head?"

"It's fine. Emrys is awake but he's back under the seal for the moment. He won't stay there long. I need Arthur's help."

Leon nodded and they skirted around the town. They stayed off the road for the most part but had to hide in a particularly dense thicket of trees as hundreds of escaped slaves swarmed the landscape.

"What could've happened?" Leon asked.

Merlin shook his head and continued watching. Soon the runners dispersed into Adaras. Leon obviously heard something that Merlin didn't and stood up. Four horses were traveling along the road. Leon stepped out and Merlin followed. Whatever Merlin was about to say to Leon was lost when he saw that Arthur and Gwen were two of the riders.


	8. Unity

8: Unity

Arthur was off his horse in a second when he saw Merlin. He could see that Emrys wasn't in control…for now.

"Did he get out?" Arthur demanded, grabbing his friend's collar.

"Briefly."

"How briefly?"

"He didn't kill anyone. Leon punched him out," Merlin looked over at the battered knight.

Arthur released him and turned to face Leon. "I was sure they'd have killed you."

"That would've been too easy," Leon replied, expression grave.

Arthur clasped his arm around Leon's. "Are you injured?"

"Merlin healed most of it."

"What will you do now?"

"What do you mean? I will serve my king as I swore to," Leon attempted to kneel down on one knee but he sort of fell instead. Percival walked over and pulled him up.

"We all need a long rest. There was a hive of slave traders we took care of over that way," Arthur pointed back the way they'd come.

"So that was you," Merlin chuckled then grasped his temple. "Hurry!" he ordered through clenched teeth.

Arthur wasted no time in getting him to sit down on a nearby log. Pulling the back of his shirt up, Arthur placed his hand on the center of Merlin's back. "Nomed eht enifnoc! Laes eht nehtgnerts!" he chanted and a sort of gold thread-like light stitched its way into Merlin's back for several moments as Arthur repeated the chant. When they were finished both looked tired.

"This can't continue," Merlin whispered so that the others wouldn't hear.

"We've discussed this."

"Yes, sire," Merlin replied.

Gwen approached them while Leon, Elyan and Percival introduced themselves to each other. Merlin stood up to greet her. She only hesitated for an instant before hugging Merlin tightly. Merlin hugged her back but Arthur saw the moment of pain in his eyes.

"_You told her, didn't you?" _

_Yes._

"_Fine."_

After Gwen let him go, she insisted that they both eat something. Then Merlin told them about Morgana, Lancelot and the mysterious newcomer, Gwaine. Arthur wanted to find them immediately.

"I know where they'll be headed if we can get there first," Merlin said and explained about the lake.

"Merlin, I thought we agreed that was a stupid plan," Arthur rebuked.

"We need _something _Arthur. Something to tip the balance in our favor!"

Arthur had the perfect retort in mind but held his tongue. Regardless of what he thought, Morgana was probably already there.

"Then what? We find Lady Morgana at this lake with a magical sword. What do we do with it?" Elyan wondered.

"I'm fine with whatever," Percival waved his hand. "I'm just glad to be out of that place."

"Honestly? I want to change destiny. I want to carve a future from my own choices—not have one waiting for me at the end of a long and tiring road where some of my closest friends die. I want a shining future where magic doesn't have to hide. Where parents don't have to watch their children die over something that isn't their fault…or for children to watch their parents die over a misunderstanding," he caught both Gwen's and Elyan's eyes as he said the last part. Elyan nodded, Gwen smiled.

Arthur looked back at Merlin who was concentrating very hard on something.

"Merlin?"

"Emrys knows the way back to Morgana," he said.

"And you're trying to force him to tell you?" Arthur whirled on his servant who nodded. "Find another way!"

"I can't find any trace of her power. I could before…but something must have changed... If she's close enough, I can feel her," Merlin snapped and then forced himself to calm down. Then he stood up and started walking back the way he and Leon had come from.

The others followed him and Leon as they made their way back to the other side of Adaras and into the deeper forest. They were heading for Camelot's general direction. Arthur withheld the Sidhe staff from Merlin and carried it himself.

After a while, Percival insisted the two tired magicians, the injured Sir Leon and Gwen ride the horses while he and Elyan walked. Leon guided them back to where he had first encountered Merlin. It wasn't hard to find considering there was blood drops on places.

"This way," Merlin started leading back the way Emrys had come from. At a walking pace it took several hours.

* * *

Arthur spotted something up ahead. He spurred his horse onwards and found a body. It was Sir Emerick.

"His sword was cursed…it prevented healing spells. Emrys…threw it back at him," Merlin quietly explained, not looking at the knight.

"What happened to the others?" Leon asked.

"Probably ran back to Logan. I don't think they'd have been able to catch Morgana or Lancelot," Merlin reasoned. Sure enough a section of the trees looked like it had been burned recently.

"She went this way," Arthur took over, tracking the more recent tracks of four horses heading deeper into Camelot's lands.

* * *

When the sun went down, Arthur insisted they all rest. Merlin wanted to keep going but Arthur insisted. Merlin protested until his head hit the bedroll and he was out in a minute.

Arthur took first watch. Gwen had placed her bedroll right next to his. Again, the notion of just marrying her occurred to him. Part of him still thought it wouldn't work but the likelihood of him ever being able to return to Camelot as royalty was getting slimmer everyday. And yet, he had to return and put things right.

Elyan rolled over in his sleep. Arthur looked up at the patch of stars visible to them. Was their quest even possible? Arthur and Merlin were half dead from their travels, Leon nearly died, Elyan wasn't as committed as he needed to be and Percival's motivations weren't entirely known…or logical. Gwen seemed to be the only one relatively unaffected by this.

Just what would happen if they succeeded? What would be lost if they failed?


End file.
